Practice area
Wrongful death lawyers for California families
No legal claim restores what you lost. What it can do is protect your family's future and hold someone accountable. We carry the legal weight so you don't have to.
There is no good way to begin this page, because there is no good version of the reason you are reading it. If someone you love was killed because of another person's carelessness — a crash, an unsafe property, a preventable failure — you are grieving and, at the same time, being asked to make decisions no one should have to make on a deadline.
California law gives certain family members the right to bring a wrongful death claim: generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and if there are none, the family members who would inherit under the state's intestate succession rules. The claim exists because a death is not only a private grief — it is also the loss of support, of a second income, of a parent's guidance, of a partner's companionship. The law cannot value those things perfectly, but it refuses to pretend they were worth nothing.
Our role is to take the entire legal burden — the investigation, the insurers, the paperwork, the deadlines — off a family that should not have to carry it. We move at your pace where the law allows, and we are direct with you about the one place it does not: the deadlines are real, and protecting the claim early costs nothing. The conversation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover for your family.
Who can bring a wrongful death claim in California
California defines the eligible plaintiffs by statute. First in line are the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children of the person who died. If a child of the deceased has also died, that child's children — the grandchildren — may step into their place. Where there is no surviving spouse, partner, or lineal descendants, the right passes to those who would inherit the estate under California's intestate succession rules, which can include parents and siblings. Certain financially dependent household members may also have rights.
Families are rarely simple, and eligibility questions — a separated spouse, a stepchild, a dependent parent — deserve careful, individual answers rather than assumptions. Sorting out who holds the claim is one of the first things we do, and doing it correctly protects everyone's rights.
What compensation can cover
A wrongful death recovery addresses two kinds of loss. The financial: funeral and burial expenses, the income and financial support your loved one would have provided, and the value of the household services they performed. And the human: the loss of companionship, protection, affection, and — for children — a parent's guidance and training. California law recognizes both categories, and neither is an afterthought.
No responsible lawyer will put a number on a life in a first conversation. What we commit to is this: every dimension of the loss gets documented and pressed, because insurers resolve these claims based on what has been proven, not on what a family privately knows to be true.
Wrongful death and survival actions — two different claims
A wrongful death claim belongs to the surviving family and compensates their losses. California law also allows a separate claim, called a survival action, brought by the estate for what the deceased person themselves suffered and lost between the injury and death — such as medical expenses and lost earnings during that period. The two claims often travel together in one lawsuit, but they answer different questions and belong to different parties.
Which claims exist in your situation depends on the facts, including how the death occurred and what preceded it. This is one of those areas where a brief conversation clarifies more than pages of reading.
How the process works
It begins with a conversation, at whatever pace your family needs — by phone, by video, or in person. If we take the case, we quietly do the urgent work first: preserving evidence, identifying every responsible party and insurance policy, and protecting the filing deadlines, including the short one that applies if a public entity is involved.
From there, the case proceeds like other injury claims — investigation, a documented demand, negotiation, and litigation if the insurers will not be fair — with one difference we take seriously: we handle the insurers entirely, so that your family's contact with this process is as small as you want it to be. Most cases resolve by settlement. The ones that should not, we try.
California wrongful death law, plainly stated
- The deadline for a wrongful death claim in California is generally two years from the date of death, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
- If a public entity bears responsibility — a government vehicle, a dangerous public road or property — a government claim generally must be presented within six months. This shorter deadline surprises grieving families constantly, and missing it can end the claim.
- Eligible claimants are defined by law: generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children first, then those entitled to the estate through intestate succession if there is no surviving spouse or issue.
- Pure comparative negligence applies: if the person who died was partly at fault, the family's recovery is reduced proportionally — not eliminated.
- A criminal prosecution, if any, is separate from the civil claim. The family's wrongful death case proceeds independently, under a different standard of proof, whatever the criminal outcome.
Frequently asked questions
Who is allowed to file a wrongful death claim?
Generally the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children of the person who died. If there are none, the right passes to those who would inherit under California's intestate succession rules — often parents or siblings. Some financially dependent household members can also qualify. If your family situation is complicated, do not assume yourself out of a claim; eligibility questions deserve a real answer, and asking is free.
How long do we have to file?
Generally two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 — but only six months to present a government claim if a public entity is involved, which is common in road-design and government-vehicle cases. Because the shorter deadline is so easy to miss amid a family's grief, it is worth having someone confirm which deadlines apply to your situation early, even if you are not ready to do anything else.
What if our loved one was partly at fault for what happened?
The claim survives. California's pure comparative negligence rule reduces the recovery by the deceased person's share of fault rather than barring the claim. Insurers understand this rule well and often overstate the deceased's share precisely because no one is present to give their account — which is why independent investigation of fault matters so much in these cases.
There is a criminal case against the person responsible. Do we wait for it?
The civil claim is separate and does not depend on the criminal outcome — a wrongful death case can succeed even where a prosecution fails, because the standard of proof is different. You do not need to wait for the criminal process to finish, and the civil deadlines do not wait for it either. The two can and do proceed on their own tracks.
We can't face a lawsuit right now. Is there a way to protect our rights without diving in?
Yes, and this is exactly what an early conversation is for. Protecting the claim — preserving evidence, confirming deadlines, presenting a government claim if one is required — does not commit your family to litigation or even to a lawsuit. It keeps the door open so that decisions can be made later, with clear heads, instead of being made for you by a missed deadline.
What does this cost the family?
Nothing up front and nothing unless there is a recovery. We advance the case costs and our fee comes from the result, never from your pocket. The initial conversation is free and carries no obligation.
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